Today the Harvard African Law Association (HALA) and HLS Advocates hosted Hauwa Ibrahim, a Nigerian human rights activist, during a lunch session. I have heard Ms. Ibrahim speak before but I’m constantly blown away each time.
Ms. Ibrahim was on the team of lawyers who defended Amina Lawal, a young lady sentenced to death by stoning in 2002. Amina’s case became incredibly popular as a test case for the new Sharia law in Nigeria and an international movement was built around getting her sentence overturned. Today, Hauwa Ibrahim spoke about why she took up Amina’s case and some of the strategies she used to prosecute it. She narrated the difficulties women faced in the courtroom; for instance, she and her team had to hire a male lawyer because women were not allowed to speak up in the courtroom. During the appeal, they would pass handwritten notes to the male lawyer to read out loud to the judges. She explained the difficulties of prosecuting a case based on laws written in English, when the judges did not read or write in English. She spoke of the threats to her own personal safety in the face of accusations that she was being paid by the West to ‘destroy Islam.’ She mused about the shortcomings of instituting Sharia in a society that did not meet the minimum requirements of community justice as set out in the Koran – i.e. the extreme inequality that exists in Nigerian communities is contrary to the spirit of Sharia, and impedes the proper application of Sharia law.
I was particularly impressed with Ms. Ibrahim’s ability to challenge the ‘system’ even while according it her utmost respect. She once told a story of how she did her best to appease the elders in her community who were irritated by the presence of a woman in the courtroom ‘challenging’ the law. She went to them in a mosque, fully covered as required in her culture, bowed to them, and said ‘I’m here to get your advice, my fathers, because I do not know what I am doing – but I want to save my sisters’ life.’ [paraphrased]
In her view, defending her clients meant putting their interests first, and doing that meant that she and her team had to win both inside and outside the court.
Amaka Megwalu
